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Monday, January 3, 2011

Surgery is very successful!

Here is our first posting after surgery. Everything went well. We started late because the hospital lost the insurance authorization but the surgery itself only took about 3 hours. Dr. Perry and his team of doctors are so experienced at this surgery, that each one worked on her in a different area. They did everything just like I told you earlier in another blog that they would do. They cut her esophagus off at her lower neckline. They cut about 1/3 of her upper stomach off and eliminated that part of her body. They tested all of her margins and did not find any cancer in the remaining esophagus and stomach. They also took out all surrounding lymph nodes and found no cancer in them. Dr. Perry was impressed with how much good the radiation and chemo had done and how little scarring had occurred. They took the remaining 2/3 of her stomach and attached it to her remaining esophagus and stapled it together. Her new esophagus/stomach will act as both soon.

Dr. Perry and his assistant told me that there were absolutely no complications and everything went as smoothly as possible. Louise is in good shape and her vitals were strong through the whole operation. They have left her in kind of a sorry state right now. I am sitting with her in the intensive care room. She has a respirator in her mouth. They have kept her sedated the whole time so she doesn't even know what you know about what happened. They have lowered the sedation a few times because her blood pressure is too low. Each time she wakes up a little. She opens her eyes and nods or shakes her head to communicate. But she is really out of it. I'm not sure she will remember much right now. They really want to take her off the respirator in the morning and wake her up but they will have to test her then to see if she can breathe on her own by then. She could be on it longer. She has every drain tube and feeding tube that you can even believe coming out of her. She might have to stay in ICU for several days and it would be good for her not to have any visitors until she is out and has some abilities to communicate. I will make many posts to this blog and will keep you as up to date as I can. i will not be leaving her side much for at least a week. She still has a real tough road to endure especially in the next few days. But she is certainly a fighter and she will win this fight also.

Thank you all for your prayers and fasting. The Lord has recognized your faith and has answered all of our prayers. Keep them coming to help her make it through this tough recovery. And as you do, please thank Him for the blessings he has bestowed on Louise and all of her family.

Love, Spence

16 comments:

  1. I am so glad to here there were no complications, Aunt Louise is in my prayers. I love you all.
    Love,
    Adair

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  2. Spence -- you are so great to take the time in such an intense day to keep us up to speed. I love you so much and know Louise is always well cared for and loved with you! Sounds like the next few days will stay tough...our prayers will try to be unceasing! Love to you and to her, of course. Lo

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  3. Thank you for the great update. I have been thinking about all of you all day. I am so happy to hear that the surgery went well. When Louise is more alert, give her my love. I will be sure to give thanks to Heavenly Father for the progress so far and pray for a speedy recovery.

    Love,
    Annie

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  4. Dear Spence: Thanks for the post AND the great phone call.. wow, it was well worth getting up at 3 am to talk with you. I feel like I fully understand what is going on now which helps me focus my energy correctly as I think of you and Louise. I know the next few days will be rough for Louise but all of this hopefully will be a distant memory in a few weeks. Big hug Sue

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  5. So very thankful that all went well. Louise will be in our prayers continuously, but I am so happy that it is over and she can now recover. I love all of you.
    Rosemary

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  6. We add our thanks to you for keeping us posted and with such wonderful, successful news. Let us know when you think she can handle visitors. Of course every prayer will include thanks besides our continued pleading in her behalf.
    We love you, Becky and David

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  7. Just want you both to know our family continues to pray for you...so grateful that all went well. Louise couldn't have a more supportive and conscientious advocate than you, Spence. We know she is in yours and Heavenly Father's good hands.
    Love, Sharie

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  8. Thanks for the update. I'm so thankful that it went well. Today was the easy part. We'll be praying for a quick recovery.

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  9. Oh I am soooo glad to hear that all went well. Bless all your hearts. Thank you so much for posting this. I even figured out how to get in here so that shows you how much this meant to me. I love you all and please keep us posted.

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  10. S&L, the Jeff Price family has included all of you in our every thought and prayer over the past week. We are very encouraged with the post-op report. We are grateful for modern communication to allow us the information we desire without having to bother your family.
    Love, Jeff

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  11. That is such awesome news, Spence. Thanks so much for posting - I hope today goes well too. I hope you got some sleep last night - probably not. I along with so many others are so grateful that Louise is doing so well.....love to both of you, Janet

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  12. What great news for the new year! I'm so glad she performed so well! We miss her at Front Row Theatre...but will be so happy to see her in a couple of months--or whenever. Thank you for the updates...so helpful.
    Love, Vicki B.

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  13. Just want to add my joy to the others. Wow! These "earthly experiences" can be tough! Hope to see you soon.
    Love,
    Donise

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  14. Thanks Spence for taking time to post, as so many people want to know
    how Louise is doing. Try to also take care of yourself now, she will need
    you a lot after released to go home.

    Peggy

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  15. Wow. It is hard to think of sweet Louise going through this, but I know that she can recover and be restored. The prayers will keep coming. Stay strong.

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  16. Thank you for posting that news, Spence. I am grateful that Louise has such a wonderful family to support and love her through this. We are praying for her.
    Love,
    Jan and Johnn Sterzer

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